Category: 5. Biology

An international team of archaeologists recently uncovered some of the oldest stone tools ever found. The ancient tools, discovered along the banks of Lake Victoria in Kenya, are likely the oldest evidence of both an important Stone Age innovation called the Oldowan toolkit and of hominins consuming very large animals. The findings were published on…

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down normal life in 2020, nature became a refuge for many people  cooped up inside. As pandemic related travel disturbances continued, the National Park Service saw record numbers of visitors, as spending time outdoors was safer in terms of virus spread. Even when a pandemic isn’t raging, spending time outside…

Orca whales are among the world’s most recognizable whales, with their round Oreo-cookie colored bodies, acrobatics, and apex ocean predator status. Many populations of orcas–aka killer whales–are also in trouble, and not just due to decades of captivity. The unique and endangered Southern Resident killer whales (SRKW) that live off of the northwest coast of…

Bullying, unfortunately, can be contagious. This applies not only at school or on the playground but also in the cellular neighborhood. That’s why in a new study, a team of researchers headed by Dr. Ruth Scherz-Shouval of the Weizmann Institute of Science focused not only on the cancer cells’ “bullying” behavior but also on its…

Wildfires have a multitude of impacts on an ecosystem. While many are negative, some animals thrive after fire, from the charred remains serving as shelter for insects and small animals like the black-backed woodpecker and spotted owl. In a study published February 6 in the journal Molecular Ecology, researchers from the University of California, Riverside…

What types of food would be served at a Paleolithic Period buffet for Neanderthals? Fruits, plants, and nuts for sure, but the former inhabitants of Gruta de Figueira Brava in Portugal would have also expected lots of seafood, especially brown crab (Cancer pagurus). “Neanderthals in Gruta da Figueira Brava were eating a lot of other…

While wolves and domesticated dogs are distantly related, selective breeding has obviously led to some major differences between the wild predator and their cousins. One similarity that has remained over the years is in their vocalizations.  Howling is a form of communication in wolves that is also found in numerous canine species, like Alaskan malamutes…

As early as 23 million years ago, giant mastodons roamed the Earth. These elephant ancestors were typically shorter than their modern day descendants, but were more dense and also bore signature tusks. These gigantic mammals were also hunted by the earliest humans before going extinct about 13,000 to 12,700 years ago. A team of researchers…

Fossils have been recovered in a number of strange and surprising places including museum drawers and deep in present day deserts. More than a century ago, a 319-million-year-old fossilized fish was found at the Mountain Fourfoot coal mine in Lancashire, England. It was safely stored at the Manchester Museum and scientists are still learning from…